More New Drawings
A few more recent 2023 drawings. Most are in an 8″ x 8″ journal; the size has encouraged experimentation. all images copyright 2023 by Michael D. Smith
Continue reading →Michael D. Smith
The Characters Table
For a while I’ve been compiling a list of similar characters in my fiction; for instance, why is Michelle Morgan, graduate student, philosopher, and Sunday supplement author in Akard Drearstone, so much like Moolka Waxtor, writer in residence and secret … Continue reading →
What If?
Aren’t most novels inspired by a central What If? Investigating the original What If of my novels or long stories has required a lot of thought. It’s possible that some really never began with a real What If. But I … Continue reading →
A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982
It’s time I brought this series further up to date; ideas for it have been kicking around since 2014. Though it’s seemed unnatural to try to split my life up into these various parts, which I keep rearranging as I … Continue reading →
The Unknown Ending for The Martian Marauders
This post is incredibly introspective and self-absorbed, but at least one of us is finding it interesting. I won’t say the final page of the incomplete, handwritten eighth-grade draft of The Martian Marauders ever deeply fascinated me, but in looking … Continue reading →
Online Interviews and a Resuscitated CommWealth
Where are the URLs? Over the past seven years I’ve had the opportunity to be interviewed on various online blogs and websites. Though I’d saved the original webpages as files to my computer, for some reason I neglected to note … Continue reading →
Supreme Commander Laurie Gets Underway
I finished the seven books of the Jack Commer, Supreme Commander science fiction series in 2021, and on what I felt was a strong note. I didn’t want to keep writing Jack Commer just because I was comfortable with it, … Continue reading →
The Exoskeleton
Mindful of one of my favorite saws probably picked up from The Internet, “There are two kinds of people: those who place people in categories, and those who don’t,” I nevertheless postulate that there may be three kinds of artist … Continue reading →
ChatGPT Edits My Elevator Pitch
One Paragraph I asked ChatGPT for a one-paragraph summary of the relevant 518 words from my previous blog post (also reproduced at the end of this post) and got these 150 words. It’s rather sobering to see this rendered in … Continue reading →
Stuck in the Elevator with the President of the World
Still working on the snappy, one-phrase, brand-defining pitch you’re supposed to have ready when you find yourself riding an elevator with the CEO of Random House. But all I have are concepts culled from various web interviews over the years, … Continue reading →